USA > South Dakota > History of South Dakota, Vol. I > Part 125
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Mr. Taubman's professional career since coming west has been eminently successful and, as already indicated, he is now recognized not only as one of the leading members of the Brown county bar, but stands as the peer of any of his contemporaries in the northeastern part of the state. Thoroughly grounded in the basic prin- ciples of jurisprudence, he is able and patient in the preparation of his cases ; in the trial of them, is skillful, resourceful and fertile in expedient. In the preparation of a case and presenting it to court or jury, he has few equals in discovering in advance the controlling points and so mar- shaling the testimony and handling it in argu- ment as to produce the conviction that the cause of his client is just and ought to prevail. He is an excellent judge of human nature, remarkably conversant with the modes of thought on the part of jurors and with these and other equally admirable qualifications, notably his power as a public speaker, he is especially forcible and uni- formly successful in jury trials. Since 1885 he has confined himself closely to his practice, which in the meanwhile has grown greatly, his services being retained in nearly all the leading cases in his own and neighboring counties, to say nothing of important business in higher courts of the state. In 1889 he was elected prosecuting attorney and served as such two years, being the last person to hold the office in
Brown county under the territorial government and the first after the admission of South Da- kota to statehood. Politically, Mr. Taubman is staunchly and uncompromisingly Republican, and has always stood firmly for the traditional principles of the party, remaining true to the same when the majority of the Republicans in the western states and the territories were de- luded and carried away by the popular fallacy of free silver. Believing in a strong and stable cur- rency, based upon the gold standard, he took issue with the plank in the platform favoring the ratio of sixteen to one and unlimited coinage, defended his position on the platform, and, through the medium of the press and despite the formidable opposition arrayed against him, made his influence felt and did much to redeem the party from the error into which it had been thrown under the direction of unwise leadership. Rather than sacrifice his honest convictions, he preferred to fight the battle for sound money alone, but his able arguments gained many ad- herents and he came out of the contest with the respect of his political foes of both parties as well as the admiration of those who successfully resisted all attempts to be led away by false and pernicious theories. Mr. Taubman has been a delegate to many conventions, local, district and state, and his influence in these bodies has had not a little to do in making of platforms, shaping the policy of the party and contributing to its success at the polls. He is nevertheless more of a lawyer than a politician and, being devoted to his profession, makes it paramount to every other consideration, his aim having always been to rise superior to mere expediency, and become thorough in all branches of legal knowledge and efficient in applying the same to practice. Mr. Taubman is one of the leading Masons of South Dakota, having taken all the degrees in the order up to and including the thirty-third, being one of a very few men in the west to reach that exalted station. He is an active member of the supreme council of the state, has attended several councils and consistories, and the high position in every branch of the order with which he has been honored attests his popularity and standing
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among his fellow Masons of South Dakota and elsewhere. As indicated above, he has taken every degree that can be conferred in the United States, which fact has made his name familiar to the brotherhood throughout the entire country and today there are few Masons on this side of the Atlantic more widely or familiarly known.
On June 26, 1879, Judge Taubman was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Ken- nedy, of Ohio, the ceremony being solemnized in Linn county, Iowa, where the bride was liv- ing at that time. . Mrs. Taubman is an educated and cultured lady, taught school for some years, after graduating from an educational institution of high grade, and is an active and popular member of St. Mark's Episcopal church of Aberdeen, also belongs to the Ladies' Guild of that denomination, under the auspices of which she has been prominent in religious circles, not only in her home city, but in a number of states, especially in the east. She has borne her hus- band three children, the oldest of whom, a daughter by the name of Genevieve, is now a student of Cornell College, in the junior year ; Olive T., the second, is attending the Aberdeen high school, and the youngest, who answers to the name of Morton Mckinley, is also pursuing his studies in the schools of the latter city.
GEORGE E. COUNTRYMAN, M. D., is one of the successful physicians and surgeons of the state, being established in the practice of his profession in the city of Aberdeen, where he has maintained his home since 1888, having the con- fidence and esteem of his professional confreres and of the community at large. George Edwin Countryman is a native of Hastings, Dakota county, Minnesota, where he was born on the 3Ist of July, 1865, being a son of Peter F. and Elizabeth (Gleason) Countryman, respectively of Holland Dutch and English ancestry, while both were born in the state of New York, whence they removed to Minnesota in 1851. The mother died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1900; the father now resides in Hastings, Minnesota.
The Doctor is a direct descendant of Baron Johana Von Konderman, who was exiled from Holland in 1608 and who came to New Eng- land with the earliest Puritan settlers, while he rendered distinguished service for the colonies in their conflicts with the Indians, participating in the protracted wars with the aborigines, and in recognition of his long and valiant service he was given a grant of land in the Mohawk valley, in the state of New York, and the same has been largely in the possession of his descendants through all the succeeding generations. The name, through years of careless and indifferent pronunciation and spelling, has assumed divers forms, notably Konderman and Countryman. Baron Von Konderman's descendants have set- tled in many different states of the Union, but the major portion have undoubtedly remained in New York, where the name is found spelled in both forms just mentioned.
Dr. Countryman completed a course in the high school of his native town and then con- tinued his studies in Washington University, in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1885 he was matricu- lated in the Missouri Medical University, in that city, in which institution he was graduated in 1888, receiving his degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. He instituted the active practice of his profession by opening an office in Mellette, South Dakota, in June, 1888, and in 1894 he took up his residence in Aberdeen, where he now has a large and representative practice. He served as coroner of Brown county for two terms of four years each, and for five years he acted as librarian of the Alexander Mitchell Free Library. He is a member of the South Dakota State Medical Society ; is a stanch Republican in politics, fraternally is identified with the Masonic order and the Ancient Order of United Work- men, and both he and his wife hold membership in the First Presbyterian church of Aberdeen, being prominent in the social life of the city. /1 .
On the 15th of November, 1888, Dr. Coun- tryman was united in marriage to Miss Kate A. Van Auken, who was born in Hannibal, Mis- souri, January 30, 1865, being a daughter of William A. and Maria Van Auken:Dr. Fand
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Mrs. Countryman have one child, Marguerite, who was born August 27, 1890.
HOWARD W. COLE, who has been promi- nently identified with the development of the agricultural and stock-growing industries in Brown county, and is at the present time render- ing effective service as sheriff of the county, was born in the town of Eureka, Montcalm county, Michigan, on the 29th of March, 1857, and is a son of Leander T. and Sarah Jane (Stout) Cole. The father of our subject was born in the state of New York, where he was reared to the age of fourteen years, when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Michigan, the family settling in Jackson county. In 1851 he took up his residence in Greenville, that state, where he formed the acquaintance of Miss Sarah J. Stout, whom he wooed and won as a companion on the journey of life. Immediately after their marriage they located on a farm in Eureka township. The father died January 17, 1900. the widow still surviving. Mr. Cole served for two years as a member of the Twenty-first Regi- ment of Michigan Volunteer Infantry during the war of the Rebellion, receiving his honorable discharge at the close of the great conflict through the results of which the perpetuity of the Union was insured. Leander T. and Sarah J. Cole became the parents of four children, of whom the subject of this review is the eldest.
Howard W. Cole was reared under the in- vigorating discipline of the homestead farm and his early education was received in the public schools. He continued to be associated with his father in the work and management of the farm until his marriage, in 1880, at the age of twenty- three years, and he then came to what is now the state of South Dakota, arriving in Brown county on the 9th of August, 1881, and settling on a pre-emption claim ten miles north of the present town of Groton. In 1882 he sold this property and took up a homestead claim in what is now Claremont township, his claim being the south- east quarter of section 25, township 125, range 60, and shortly afterward he entered the em-
ploy of H. M. Fuller as foreman on the latter's farm. In the spring of 1884 he entered into partnership with S. W. Weber, F. D. Adams and H. C. Sessions and they effected the purchase of what is known as the Fuller farm, to which they added from time to time until the same has now an area of twelve hundred and eighty acres. The co-partnership continued until the death of Mr. Adams, in 1898. and our subject still retains his interest in this fine property. He continued to reside on the ranch until the autumn of 1902, when he was elected sheriff of the county and forthwith re- moved to Aberdeen, the judicial center of the county, and entered upon the active discharge of his official duties. He has proved a most dis- criminating, fearless and faithful executive, and his course has been such as to amply justify the confidence reposed in him by the voters of the county in making him their choice for the shriev- alty. Mr. Cole assisted in the organization of Claremont township and for a number of years was an active and valued member of the town- ship board. He also served for nine years as treasurer of his school district, and represented his township in nearly all of the county and state Republican conventions, having ever been a stal- wart advocate of the principles and policies of the "grand old party." He served for two years as postmaster of Huffton, and has at all times been recognized as a loyal and progressive citizen. Concerning the fraternal relations of Sheriff Cole we enter the following data: He is affiliated with Cement Lodge, No. 103, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Claremont ; Aberdeen Chap- ter. No. 14. Royal Arch Masons; Damascus Commandery. No. 10, Knights Templar. at Aberdeen ; Adah Chapter, No. 52, Order of the Eastern Star, at Claremont ; and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, in which division of Masonry he holds membership in James C. Bachelor Lodge of Perfection, No. 6: Aberdeen Chapter, No. 4. Rose Croix ; Albert Pike Council, No. 4, Knights of Kodosh; and South Dakota Consistory, No. 4. Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret. He is also identified with Claremont Lodge, No. 5-
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Ancient Order of United Workmen; Claremont Tent, No. 25, Knights of the Maccabees; and Claremont Camp, No. 6199, Modern Woodmen of America, all of Claremont.
On the 9th of December. 1880, Mr. Cole was united in marriage to Miss Theresa M. Howell, who was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, whence she accompanied her parents to Michigan when a child, being there reared and educated and having been a resident of Mont- calm county, that state, at the time of her mar- riage. Mr. and Mrs. Cole became the parents of five children, all of whom are living except the eldest, who died in infancy, the names, in order of birth, being as follows : Charles Henry, Arthur Maxwell, Mildred N., Mary J. and Wal- ter G.
DEWITT CLINTON FOWLER, M. D., of Aberdeen, is a native of New York, born No- vember 6, 1841, in the town of Delphi, Madison county, where his father, Smith T. Fowler, a representative of an old and highly respected Quaker family, long made his home. The Doctor's early years were spent in his native vil- lage, and after attending for some time the pub- lic schools of the same, he finished his education in the old Cazenovia Seminary, an institution of high grade, five miles distant from Delphi. Hav- ing decided to make the medical profession his life work, he subsequently began the study of the same, and after a three years' course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York City, was graduated in 1863. Immediately following the completion of his professional course, the Doctor was appointed assistant sur- geon of the First New York Dragoons, origin- ally the old One Hundred and Thirtieth New York Infantry, which, after two years' service, was converted into a cavalry regiment. and as such took an active part in the Virginia cam- paigns, until the close of the rebellion. In his official capacity, Dr. Fowler accompanied his command through all its varied experiences of march and battle, participating in a number of hard-fought engagements, notably among which
were the battles of the Wilderness, Cedar Creek, the various fights in the Shenandoah valley, and Winchester, being captured at the last named place and sent to Libby prison at Richmond, where for a period of six months he was kept in close confinement, suffering great hardships the meanwhile. From Libby he was transferred to Macon, Georgia, and after spending three months in the prison pen at that place, his ex- change was effected, after which he rejoined his regiment in readiness for duty. At the close of the war he was mustered out of the service at Rochester, New York, and during the ensuing three years lived at Syracuse, where, in addition to trying to recover his health, he further prose- cuted his professional studies, his later reading leading him, in 1868, to adopt the homeopathic school of medicine, in preference to the one in which he had previously practiced.
From 1868 to 1873 Dr. Fowler practiced in Oswego, New York, and the latter year changed his abode to Fayetteville, in the same state, where 'he enjoyed a large and lucrative professional business until his removal, in 1882, to South Dakota. He was induced to come west by reason of continued poor health, his lungs having be- come seriously affected. In the hope of finding the pure and invigorating atmosphere of the Da- kotas conducive to improvement, he joined a colony consisting of about forty persons, with whom in due time he reached what is now Brown county, where he at once took up a claim, and opened an office in Aberdeen, being the third phy- sician in this part of the country. His success, since coming west, has been marked, and the dis- tinction accorded him of being one of the lead- ing physicians and surgeons in the northeastern part of the state has been fairly and honorably earned. His career has also been fortunate, when considered from a financial point of view. Being a prudent and sagacious business man, his earnings have been judiciously invested from time to time, until he now possesses an ample competence, owning, in addition to valuable city property, several fine tracts of land in Brown county, from the proceeds of which no small share of his income is derived. He is also in-
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terested in mining, having good mineral proper- ties in the Black Hills, some of which have already been developed and pay well, and others promising rich returns at no distant day.
Dr. Fowler is a member of the state and national medical associations, also belongs to several local societies, and in his practice works in harmony with the different schools of medi- cine, his long and valuable professional ex- perience enabling him to appropriate what is best in each. During the past twelve years he has held the position of United States pension ex- aminer, being a member of the board at Aber- deen. In politics he is staunchly Republican, but party work not being exactly to his taste, he has never aspired to leadership nor sought public office at the hands of his fellow citizens. He is first of all a physician, thoroughly wedded to his profession and appreciating its usefulness and dignity. consequently he has made every other consideration subordinate to the one idea of becoming a true healer of men and a bene- factor of humanity. The Doctor is one of the prominent Masons of South Dakota, standing high in the order, and at different times has filled important official stations in the various branches with which he is identified. He belongs to Damascus Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templar, which organization he has represented in national conclaves, first at Boston. He is also identified with the Valley of Aberdeen Con- sistory No. 4. Scottish Rite, being a thirty- second-degree Mason and one of the leading and influential spirits among his brethren in that high branch of the mystic tie. Religiously, the Doctor is an Episcopal, the parish of St. Marks of Aberdeen, having been organized in his office and largely through his instrumentality in the year 1882. Since that date he has served as warden of the vestry, in addition to which he has also been actively identified with the gen- eral work of the church, contributing of his means and influence to its growth and watching over the varied interests of the parish with a kind and fatherly care. The strenuous life the Doctor has led has been fruitful of great good and lasting benefits to his fellow men, and to
say that he is regarded as one of the notable physicians and leading citizens of this day in South Dakota, is to express what the public wil- lingly and cheerfully concedes.
WILLIAM F. BANCROFT, postmaster at Wessington Springs and editor and publisher of the True Republican, was born in Monmouth, Illinois, on the 21st of October, 1868, being a son of Charles L. and Louise P. Bancroft, who removed to the territory of Dakota and located in Yankton when he was a child of but two years. The subject is the youngest of the two children, his sister, Nellie, being the wife of Charles N. Wright, a resident of Sioux Falls. South Dakota. William F. Bancroft secured his early educational discipline in the public schools of the city of Yankton and supplemented the same by a course of study in Yankton College. After leaving college he worked at the printing trade in Yankton, going from there to Ver- million, where he remained for two years, de- voting his attention principally to working at his trade. In February, 1893, he came to Wessing- ton Springs and two years later purchased the True Republican, of which he has since been the editor and publisher, making the paper an able exponent of local interests and a power in the field of politics in this section of the state, the policy of the paper in a political way being uncompromisingly Republican, which fact indi- cates the political proclivities of the owner, who has been an active worker in the party cause during the years of his residence in the county. On the Ioth of September. 1898, under the ad- ministration of President Mckinley, Mr. Ban- croft was appointed postmaster of Wessington Springs, and is still incumbent of this position. While a resident of Clay county our subject served as deputy clerk of the courts, and he has held various local offices in connection with the municipal government of his home town, heing at present the city clerk. Fraternally, he is identified with Frontier Lodge. No. 87, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and with Wessing- ton Springs Lodge. No. 81. Independent Order
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of Odd Fellows; while he has been specially prominent in the Modern Woodmen of America, being a member of Wessington Springs Camp, No. 2962. He served as state clerk of the order for two years, was delegate to the head camp in 1899, and from February 13, 1901, to May 6, 1903, he was state advisor, being then elected to the important office of state consul, of which he is incumbent at the time of this writing.
On the 3d of July, 1894, Mr. Bancroft was united in marriage to Miss Maud S. Spears, daughter of J. M. Spears, a well-known resident of Wessington Springs, and of this union have been born four children, all of whom remain at the parental home, namely: Merrill, Lowell. Darrell and Melba.
HENRY FRAWLEY .- Among the pioneers of the state the subject of this sketch has a place of priority, while he is one of the leading members of the bar of the commonwealth, hav- ing heen actively engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Deadwood since 1877, and he is also one of the extensive land owners of Lawrence county and interested in valuable mining properties. Mr. Frawley comes from staunch Irish ancestry, and is a native of the Em- pire state, having been born in Washington county, New York, on the 13th day of March, 1851, being a son of Thomas and Honora ( Ho- gan) Frawley, both of whom were born and raised near the city of Limerick, Ireland, in which section both families have been established for many generations. The old Frawley home- stead, which is still standing near Rathkeal, is in a fine state of preservation, having been con- tinually in the possession of the family for more than one hundred and fifty years, while the name has been identified with the great basic art of agriculture in the Emerald Isle from the days to which the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. The parental grandparents of the sub- ject were Thomas and Mary (Fitzgerald) Frawley, who passed their entire lives in the county of Limerick, and the maternal grand- parents were Michael and Elizabeth (Burke)
Hogan, who also passed their entire lives in the same country. The parents of the subject emi- grated to America in 1848 and remained a short time in the state of New York, after which they removed to Wisconsin, being numbered among the sterling pioneers of Dane county, and there passed the remainder of their long and useful lives. The father became one of the prominent and influential stock growers and farmers of that section. He was a man of inflexible in- tegrity and strong intellectuality, and was ever held in confidence and esteem by those with whom he came in contact. Through his well- directed efforts he attained a fair degree of pros- perity. He died at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in January, 1896. His wife passed away in 1884 on the old homestead in Dane county. They be- came the parents of eight sons and two daugh- ters. Both daughters are dead and one son died when quite young. Another, T. F. Fraw- ley, who became a very prominent lawyer, died at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, June 28, 1902. It may be consistently noted that five of the sons were graduates of the literary department of the University of Wisconsin, and three in the law department of that institution, while at the present time four members of the family are engaged in the practice of law. The two daugh- ters were graduates of the normal school; Honora A. graduated in June, 1885, and died in September. Mary E. graduated in 1882, taught school for many years and died at Eau Claire, in 1893.
Henry Frawley, the immediate subject of this sketch, was raised on the homestead and secured his rudimentary education in the dis- trict school, after which he continued his studies at Albion Academy. Dane county, and in 1872 entered the University of Wisconsin, graduating therefrom in 1874 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered the law department of that institution and completed the course pre- scribed and graduated as a member of the class of 1876 with the degree of Bachelor of Law and was at once admitted to practice in the courts of that state. He read law during his course at law school in the office of P. L. Spooner,
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father of Senator J. C. Spooner, of Wisconsin. Almost immediately after his graduation he was nominated for state's attorney of Dane county and was defeated. In the fall of 1876 he went to Eau Claire and was associated with Henry Cousins in the practice of law until the spring of 1877. In June of that year he started for the Black Hills district, making the trip by rail- road to Bismarck and thence going onward to Deadwood with a party of immigrants traveling in wagon trains, encountering no trouble with the Indians. He arrived in Deadwood, then a stirring mining town, opened an office, com- menced the practice of law and was fairly suc- cessful from the start. In November, 1879, he formed a co-partnership with Edward L. Kohen, which continued until 1881 under the firm name of Frawley & Kohen. From then until 1894 he practiced law by himself. having from 1886 John P. Laffey associated with him, and in 1894 John P. Laffey and James Frawley, a brother who graduated from the University in 1892 and studied law under the preceptorship of the sub- ject, became members of the firm, adopting the title of Frawley & Laffey. This association con- tinued until 1896, when James Frawley re- moved to Nome, Alaska, where he has since be- come established in the practice. Messrs. Fraw- ley & Laffey continued the practice under the partnership until February, 1903, when Mr. Laffey became the general counsel for the Re- pauno Chemical Company of Wilmington, Delaware. The firm then became Frawley & Frawley. E. J. Frawley succeeding Mr. Laffey. and it has done a large and important law busi- ness of a general nature. Mr. Frawley was the attorney for John Fitzgerald & Brother during all their litigation in the construction of the line of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad from Edgemont to Deadwood, and since the completion of that road has continually served the company as its counsel. He is also the at- torney of the Golden Reward Consolidated Gold Mining Company, the American National Bank, the Hidden Fortune Gold Mining Company and a number of other mining corporations. In politics he is a staunch advocate of the Jeffer-
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